Chapter 9
Hiding in A dream
"There is nothing to fear except the persistent refusal to find out the truth, the persistent refusal to analyze the causes of happenings."
-Dorothy Thompson
Today wasn't going to be a good day. Katie had already determined that early this morning when she got the call that the venue for Ari's birthday party was flooded from a busted pipe and would be closed for the next couple of weeks. The party was in a couple days, everyone they invited had sent in their RSVP and now she had to figure out where exactly she would find a place that would accept such a short notice reservation. But that wasn't her biggest problem at the moment.
No at the moment, Katie stood in a very humid classroom, her phone pressed to her ear as Oliver Queen stuck a nail in his coffin.
"So what you're saying is, you're not coming?" she asked and she heard him sigh.
"I'm sorry, I had to come to City Hall to talk to Thea and deal with this whole thing of her deciding to name Quentin as my deputy mayor. We're in traffic now, I think there was an accident, but I'm not sure how long it's going to be."
Katie closed her eyes and dropped her head against the window. Just a few days ago, she an Oliver once again crossed that line in their relationship, and it was all cute and fun, and they had their little romantic bubble for a while, but then real life, and kids and being the mayor and vigilante crept back in and it was taking a toll.
"You're not coming." she sighed lifting her head from the window and looked over to the impatient looks from the boy's parents the school's councilor. "I guess I'm flying solo."
"Twinkie, I'm sorry."
"I know, but it doesn't change anything." she replied before ending the call and walking back over. "As I guessed, Oliver is stuck with work, he's trying to get here, but we should just start." the councilor looked over to the other parents who simply nodded before they all took their seats around the meeting table. Katie sat on one side, while the couple sat on the other, and the councilor took the seat at the head.
"Hi, my name is Mr. Garner. Has everyone been introduced?" he asked with a smile as he glanced around the table.
"Uh, not really." Katie says with a slight smile as she turns to the couple. "I'm Katherine R-" she caught herself. It was taking a bit longer for her to actually remember what her last name was. "Katherine Queen. I am Ari's cousin and her legal guardian."
"Well I am Hazel Burns, and this is my husband Cliff. We're Brandon's parents." Hazel turned to the councilor. "And we're here to discuss why the girl who assaulted our son hasn't been expelled."
"Expelled?" Katie said and they turned to her. "I thought punishment was supposed to come after we actually determined what happened in this situation. At least that's what I was told by principal Harris."
"I think we all know what happened. Arianna hit our son and broke his nose. He had to get stitches. Do you know how traumatizing something like that is to a child?"
"You know what else is traumatizing?" Katie says, her glare now fixed on the woman sitting across from her. "Being verbally abused, and being made fun of for not having her parents in her life."
"I'm sorry Mrs. Queen, but some mean words doesn't justify a physical assault." the woman replied. The councilor opened his mouth to interject and to calm the tensions that were already starting to arise, but he never got the chance. "You should know that better than anyone."
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Katie asked and Hazel chuckled glancing over to her husband who sighed with a shake of his head.
Hazel turned back to the woman. "I guess that whole amnesia thing is real." Katie frowned as she sat back in her chair. "Cliff and I attended Starling High the same year you did. We know about you and the whole "Twinkie" jab practically the whole school threw at you and I didn't see you punching people in the nose." the woman turned to Mr. Garner, who nervously turned from Katie to the Burns'. "We were nice enough not to press charges, but we demand that the school does something with this girl. We nor our son feel safe having her attend this school." she turned back to Katie who still hadn't replied. "You need to get better control over that girl or she'll end up behind bars like her mother."
Katie scoffed before standing to her feet, fully intending to walk around this table and show this woman just how unsafe she should feel, but she stopped her self. Katie stood there, closed her eyes and let out a deep breath before opening her eyes and looking back to the couple.
"Ari has written both your son and you apologies for her actions, something your son hasn't done. Ari now has been required to stay after school twice a week for the next month to tutor students who need extra help. Ari wrote an entire essay which she has delivered to principal Harris on the reason for her actions and why they were wrong." Katie shook her head. "I agree that in this situation, Ari's behavior was unacceptable and she understands that and has been working really hard to make an amends. Your son hasn't apologized, and no one has talked to him about why it's wrong to bully someone. If he's not careful, he may end up getting worse than a broken nose."
"And what does that mean?" Hazel stood to her feet. "Was that a threat? Did you just threaten our son?"
"No, I did not." Katie said. "I will reimburse you for all medical costs for son."
"We don't need your money!"
"Now Hazel-" it was Cliff who finally broke his silence and stood to his feet, placing a hand on his wife's arm. She turned her glare to him and they stared at each other for a moment before the woman grabbed her purse and stalked out of the room. Cliff let out a sigh before turning back to Katie. "I'm sorry, she's really upset about this."
"I understand." Katie reached into her bag and grabbed a pen before grabbing a sheet of paper and writing down her and Oliver's number and email address. "Give me a call or email your information and we will take care of everything." she handed it to the man before turning to Mr. Garner. "What I wanted from this meeting was a fair punishment for both children. If Mr. Harris decides that expelling Ari is fair, we'll accept it." she turned back to Cliff. "Ari hasn't had an easy life. The fact that her parent's indiscretions have been publicized have followed her and will follow her. Your wife is right, I have dealt with my own bullying when I was these kids age, and I didn't revert to violence, but honestly I wished I had." Katie turned and grabbed her bag to leave.
"He's a good kid." Cliff said, and Katie stopped and turned to him. "Things have just been a bit trying since I lost my job and I guess he's been acting out."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Katie says. "If you don't mind me suggesting, maybe you could look into the New Beginning's Initiative. I know I helped create it, but I actually don't remember. I've read about it though, and it seems to help in situations like yours."
"That's just it. That's how I got the job. I went through the entire process and it worked out perfectly. Then they laid off a bunch of us because they couldn't afford the extra fees NBI were enforcing." Cliff shook his head. "Look I'll talk to Hazel and Brandon. I'm going to have Brandon apologize, because despite my wife's talk, she knows what it's like to be bullied as well and we all were in Ari's place. Either take it or do something about it. She did something about it and we wished we did the same." the man turned and headed for the door.
"Mr. Burns?" Katie said and the man stopped and turned to her. "Where exactly did you work?"
Katie walked down the empty halls of her old high school, her phone pressed to her ear.
"I knew you would call." purred the voice of on Michael Carroll. "Please tell me you're calling to accept my offer."
"No, actually I'm calling about the New Beginning's Initiative. I just spoke to a man who said he was laid off because the company he worked for couldn't afford the additional fees." she heard the man sigh.
"I voted against it, but she was able to convince the majority of the board to vote with her." Micheal replied.
"I'm a shareholder right? Don't I have a say?" Katie heard the man laugh and she stopped walking. "Am I amusing you?"
"You are Sweets. You my dear hold over fifty percent of RI's voting stock which means yes, you do have a say. But the power you have allows you to undo the entire thing, and that may leave some bad blood with the members of the board who voted with Anna."
"So I need to convince them to change their vote. Try the democratic way and if that doesn't work-"
"Go dictator on their asses." Michael said.
Katie rolled her eyes as she continued walking. "I'm going to need an argument. Are you able to get me a list of all the companies who now have taken on these fees, which have dropped out of the initiative, who've stay, but have laid off employees, and also if this change had a profit gain or loss for the company." she stepped out of the school and spotted Ari sitting on the steps reading a book. "You still there?"
"Yeah, I am, just taking all of this in."
"Taking what in."
"You, making boss moves. Just say yes and we can get you voted back on the board and start the process of getting Annabelle out of here and you in."
"I'm definitely not ready for anything like that. For right now, people are losing their jobs which is the opposite of what's supposed to happening with NBI. Let me know when you have everything."
"Maybe we should come up with some sort of strategy to handle this. We can discuss it over dinner. What do you say?"
"I say, you should probably not ask me out on a date again or I will stop calling you."
"You're no fun, fine. I'll call you when I got something for you."
Once the call ended, Katie stepped over to Ari who looked up from her book.
"So what's the damage?" Ari stood to her feet and walked along side Katie toward the car.
"Well I'm not completely sure. This meeting was to try to help determine the best punishment for both of you, but it kind of went left and I almost punched the kid's mom." Ari chuckled and Katie stopped and turned to her.
"Right, not funny since this is happening because of me." Katie let out a sigh before placing a hand on the girl's shoulder.
"No, this isn't only on you. I want you to always stand up for yourself against bullies. Maybe refrain from violence if you can." she turned to Hank who smiled as he walked over to pull open the door. "I have a day, so I'll be taking my car." she turned back to Ari.
"You still haven't found a place for the party?"
"Don't worry about it. I will." Katie gave a wave before heading over to her car.
"Hey wait, did Oliver ditch the meeting?!" Ari called and Katie stopped and glanced over to her and just sighed before continuing to her car. "He's so dead."
"Yes he is." Hank chuckled before nudging the girl. "Hey let's go. We should be heading to City Hall, and traffic is hell."
Oliver stalked into his office, letting his door slam behind him as he dropped into his seat and let out a heavy sigh as he slid his hands over his face. Once again, he took out his cell phone and dialed Katie's number, and yet again it went to voice mail.
"So I'm assuming you are now screening my calls and avoiding me." Oliver spoke. "I'm sorry, I should've made sure my schedule was free so this wouldn't happen. Please believe me that if I could've been there, I would've. Please talk to me." he ended the call and tossed his phone to his desk before closing his eyes and leaning back in his seat. The door to his office opened, and when he opened his eyes he sighed at the sight of Ari. "I thought I told you to head straight to the bunker."
"Yeah, I know, but I thought I would come here first to warn you." Ari says dropping into the seat across from him.
"How upset was she?"
"Well she didn't say anything to me, but she had a look." Ari sighed. "I guess the meeting was all over the place. She said there was a point where she wanted to punch Brandon's mom. Plus I think she's still trying to figure out the whole party thing even though I told her we could just cancel it."
"She's not going to do that." Oliver said with a shake of his head, picking up his phone and wondering if he should call her again.
"Plus I think something is going on with RI." Ari said and Oliver looked over to her. "I think she was talking to someone at the company because she was talking about NBI." Oliver groaned as he turned away. He thinks this has to do with Annabelle changing up the initiative. He assumed she would give it up after their meeting, but obviously she didn't. "So a lot is going on and then you ditched her and now you're not her favorite person anymore." Oliver looked over to her and she held up her hands. "You just got to do whatever you usually do to get back into her good graces."
"That would be easy if she actually answered my calls." Oliver said picking up his phone.
"Well can call her on the way. We should be going." Ari says standing to her feet and Oliver looked over to her. Her entire mood changed when he decided to give her chance to be on the team. She seemed excited and anxious even though she wasn't really getting along with Rene, or Evelyn, which she didn't seem to care at all about.
Oliver stood to his feet and walked behind the girl, once again bringing his phone to his ear.
Katie looked down to her phone that sat on the coffee table in front of her.
"Oliver again?" she looked up to Nick who sat across from her and she just sighed before flipping over the phone. "You should answer."
"No, I'm not ready to talk to him yet." Katie replied sitting back on the couch and looking down to her journal in her lap. "So I've been writing in this thing, but I'm not sure if it's helping."
"Why?"
"Because some of these memories are more detailed than others. Some of them are vague and it's frustrating."
"Have you talked to anyone in your family? Maybe they could provide the missing details." Katie turned away and Nick took in her stance at the mention of talking to her family. "What are you thinking about right now?"
"Nothing, it's just I always get the feeling they're hiding something from me." Katie turns back to him. "Like I'm getting all of these puzzle pieces, but I can't see the pieces in between and I think they know it, but they're not telling me."
"And why do think that is?"
Katie had asked herself that question. The only thing she could assume was that it was something they were trying to protect her from. Something they were afraid would upset her.
"Since I woke up in this new life, with this new family, I've come to realize that they're all very protective. Trying to shield me from the things that could hurt me." she turned away and thought about the "dreams" of the woman who looked like her. "Maybe I'm trying to protect myself too."
"What do you mean?"
Katie shook her head. "I've been having these weird dreams I think. In them there's a woman and she looks just like me. She knows things." she turns back to Nick. "I think she knows everything."
"So you're seeing yourself, or a version of yourself who remembers what you can't."
"Yeah, and when I tell her to come back she refuses, like she's afraid of something bad happening if she did." Katie slid her hands across her face. This was the first time she'd talked about these dreams out loud to another person.
"Does she tell you why she's afraid?"
"No, she usually wants me to leave whenever I see her."
"Would you say these memories happen more frequently during or after these dreams?" Nick asked and Katie turned away to think.
"Maybe." she said before standing to her feet and walking near the window. Nick scribbled a few notes before looking back over to the woman.
"Once again by the window." Nick says and Katie rolls her eyes before turning back to him. "Do you no longer want to talk about this?"
"That's not it, it's just-" she turned back to look out the window. "It feels like there's this ticking time bomb and I'm hovering above it trying to decide which wire to cut." she turned around and shrugged. "The problem is there is no right wire. Cutting any wire will detonate the explosion."
"So you could either do nothing and stay safe or cut the wire and take whatever blows out at you." Nick stood to his feet and dropped the note pad to the table before walking over to stand in front of the woman. "Well I think you have to remember that you don't have to cut the wire alone. Your friends, your family, I'm sure they will stand by you."
Katie turned back to her phone that rang and when she walked over to look down to the screen she shook her head at the sight of Oliver's name once again.
"I mean there's one guy in particular who I'm sure would be at your side." Nick says.
Ari's eyes were on the mug shot of some drug dealer named Carl Roberto. Oliver had left a while ago to find the guy, while they all stay behind to watch from a video feed.
"He's not looking for a challenge." Felicity said. "This is about teaching the 5 of you what happens out there and how to handle it." their team of four turned into a team of 5 with the addition of Rory Regan, the Ragman. It was a decision Ari wasn't too sure about, but she had no say in the matter.
"Well I'm up for any lesson that doesn't involve getting punched in the face." Evelyn says looking down to the video.
"Wait, he hits you guys?" Rory asked looking around to the others who just nodded.
"Ari?" Ari turned to find Felicity standing behind her. "You alright?"
"Yeah," Ari says before walking over to join the others to watch the video. Felicity sighed before going back to her seat.
They all stood and watched how easily Oliver was able to handle this guy. Within seconds, he had him tied up and hanging over the edge of the roof of the building they were on.
"Stardust!" Oliver says before punching a hanging Carl.
"Who's Stardust?" Rory asks.
"Not a who. "Ari says looking down to the screen. Felicity turned to her with a quirked brow. She feels the eyes and turns to see Rory and Felicity looking over to her. "It's a what. Newest drug on the street."
"That's right. It makes PCP look like aspirin, but I'm more interested in how you know about it." Felicity says still looking at Ari who shakes her head.
"I'm in high school, there's not a lot I'm not exposed to." Ari says turning back to the screen.
"But I think you being exposed to drugs might be something your guardians might want to know." Felicity says.
"I want your supplier!" Oliver demands and the man hanging there shakes his head.
"I can't, he'll kill me!"
"What do you think I'm going to do?"
Ari frowned at the words. Would he really kill the man? Would they be expected to kill people on this team?
"He's not going to kill him, is he?" Evelyn asked Felicity who stared at the screen unsure of the answer.
"That is—that's an excellent question." Felicity continued watching hoping this little shake down didn't get that far.
Ari cleared her throat and Felicity looked over to her. "I'm going to get some water." without another word, the teen turns and hurries away. Felicity watches her with a slight frown. She assumes this was a side of Oliver she hadn't seen before and she's probably certain it's a side he's probably never wanted her to see.
The shake down ended with Oliver getting a name of the supplier, getting a sample of the Stardust from Carl's pocket, before cutting the man down and letting him fall from the roof.
"So what did we learn?" Felicity asked turning to the group.
"Don't piss Oliver off." Curtis says,
Evelyn Chuckles, "Like we needed that lesson."
"Information." Felicity says turning and glancing over to see that Ari still hadn't returned. "It's the currency of our business. Once Oliver returns he's going to ask me to analyze it so we can find out where it's being manufactured."
"I hate drugs." Rory said suddenly and they all turned to him. "Not in a recreational sense. I have a life, like anyone else. It's just-I saw what all the gang violence did to my hometown." Felicity cleared her throat and turned back to the screen. It happened whenever Rory brought up his hometown and she was reminded of what happened and the secret she didn't think she would be able to keep.
"Um, I'm going to download tonight's surveillance footage to DVDs. Oliver wants you to study them like a football player would break down a game tape."
"And then he'll let us in the field?" Rene asked.
"I'm guessing not." Curtis replied and Rene just shook his head.
"That guy is seriously underestimating my patience."
"I am." they all turned to see Oliver heading inside. "Because I didn't think you had any patience." he handed the Stardust to Felicity. "Let's analyze this and see if we can figure out where it was manufactured."
"Sure," Felicity says before nudging her head across the hideout. Oliver looked at her for a moment in confusion, before looking over to the others, suddenly realizing he didn't see Ari. Oliver let out a sigh, about to check on her, but was stopped.
"Look, analysis and forensics is cool and all, but that stuff takes time." Rene walked over to stand in front of Oliver. "I know the neighborhood where this dealer's slinging out of. I think I can guess where the Stardust is being made."
"Rene, we don't deal in maybes and guesswork."
"Or maybe rich boy Mayor Queen doesn't know the streets so good."
Oliver just shook his head. "Everyone get back to your training." he turned back to Rene. "You impress me in here, then maybe I'll let you impress me out there." with that he turned and headed off in search of Ari.
He'd only turn the corner to the other side of the hideout when he found her sitting on the floor her knees to her chest.
"Hey," she turned, looking up to him before standing to her feet. "You ok?"
"Yeah, I'm good." she made to join the others, but Oliver moved to block her. "You can't do this. When we're here, I'm a hero in training and you're the teacher, you can't interchangeably be the concerned guardian."
"I never agreed to that, and I wouldn't." Oliver says. "I will always be your concerned guardian. What's going on?" Ari lifted her eyes to the man, and sighed. His hood was gone and there was no mask. Right now he was just Oliver. Just moments ago he was the scary guy in a mask who threatened to kill a man and now she's trying to come to terms with that. "Was it something about tonight?
"No, it's just-" she shook her head. "I think you were right. There are parts of this job that I didn't know about and I think I saw some of it tonight." Ari says looking back to Oliver. "You kind of have to go to a dark place when you wear that mask, huh?" Oliver turned away, because she was right. There was a dark place he had to go to be the Green Arrow, he just wished to hell that she never had to see it. "Look I get it, certain situations call for specific solutions. I'm not traumatized or anything, really I'm good." this time when she moves to leave, he doesn't stop her.
Oliver turned at the sound of footsteps to see Felicity.
"How is she?"
"Not sure." Oliver replied folding his arms over his chest. "I'm not sure bringing her here was a good idea. She's not ready for this."
"Or maybe you're not ready for this. There's this whole part of you that she's never seen, and now she's seeing it. It's ok to be nervous about that." Oliver just nodded. "A radio call just came in. B-and-E on the shipping center on 8th and Amsterdam." Oliver nodded once again before turning and heading for the door.
Katie sat on the floor of her living room, phone pressed to her ear as she listened to what seemed like the expected response to every call she's made.
"Yes, I do know it's short notice, but I don't need bells and whistles. Just a place for a girl's 16th birthday party." she groaned because the owner wasn't budging. "No, ok thank you." she hung up the phone and sighed as she dropped her head back against the couch. She had no idea what she was going to do. With as many kids and parents that RSVP'd there's no way they could have the party at the house. She lifted her eyes back to her laptop and sighed. She'd went through every name on the list and none of them was taking a party her size just days before the actual party. "I don't know what I'm going to do." she sighed before standing to her feet and walking into the kitchen. She looked on top of the refrigerator and cursed under her breath. Of course there were no cookies. She probably stress ate them earlier this week and forgot to buy more. She turned at the sound of the front door opening and when she pushed opened the door to the kitchen, she stepped out to see Oliver who was just walking in. He closed the door behind him and stopped when he saw Katie staring back to him. Her eyes seemed to go from him to the bag in his hand. "What's in the bag?" Oliver glanced down to the bag before reaching inside and pulling out a box of her favorite cookies.
She hated him so much and yet she was hopelessly in love with him at the same time. Katie took a step toward him, but stopped. She wanted to be stubborn a little while longer and so she huffed before turning and stalking back into the kitchen. Oliver let out a sigh before heading in after her.
"You can't bribe me with cookies, you know." she said once he walked into the kitchen. "I'm still not happy with you."
"I know, which is why I brought you three boxes of cookies." Oliver said before placing them all on the kitchen counter. Katie looked over to the boxes, and she could feel herself needing the sugar to soothe her frustrations from the day. "Twinkie, I'm really sorry."
"Yeah, I know, I listened to all the voice mails." she replied walking over and grabbing one of the boxes before turning and heading back over to hop up on the counter. Oliver decided to test the waters, and so he eased over to stand in front of her.
"So how did it go?"
"Brandon's parents want Ari expelled." Katie sighed with a shake of her head.
"Seriously, I thought the purpose of the meeting was to come up with better solution than either of them being taken out of school."
"Yeah, well, Brandon's parents, Cliff and Hazel, who apparently went to high school with us, had only one solution in mind." Katie opened the box and grabbed a cookie and took a bite. "Can you believe Hazel actually told me that I need to get more control of Ari because if she's not careful she'll end up behind bars just like her mother."
"She actually said that?" Oliver asked and Katie nodded. "I guess now we see where Brandon gets it from."
"Yeah, because I was so tempted to punch her in nose." Katie sighed as she reached inside the box for another cookie. Oliver walked over to take her hand. "Just let me eat my feelings please."
"How about-" he took the box from her hands and she groaned in annoyance. "You share your feelings with me." Katie simply took a bite of the cookie she managed to snag before he took the box. "Twinkie-"
"How did training go?" she asked changing the subject. Oliver let out a sigh before reaching forward and snagging the piece of cookie in her hand and shoving it in his mouth. He smiled at the glare she sent him before she stubbornly turned away.
"Fine, Rene's still as impatient as ever." Oliver leaned forward and placed a soft kiss to the nape of her neck. "I'm not sure how Ari's handling the dark stuff that goes along with this job." Katie turns and Oliver meets her eyes. "I had them watch as I questioned a dealer about a drug that's moving on the streets."
"And by questioned, you mean beat up and threatened his life."
"That's usually how I get most of my information." Oliver's hands slid around her waist. "It's just a side of me she's never seen before."
"And now you're afraid she won't see you the same?" Oliver just sighed. "Talk to her. She loves you. She may be confused about what she saw, so maybe just explain the truth of why you do what you do." Oliver leaned into kiss her, only for her to turn away once again. "You stood me up." Oliver dropped his head on her shoulder. "Oliver Queen stood me up and now I question a lot about our relationship."
"You're never going to let me live this down, are you?" he asked and Katie smiled as she reached over and lifted his head so she could see his eyes.
"Oliver, I get your job is important, and it's hard and then you've taken on the responsibility of being the protector of this city," she placed a hand on his cheek. "I just need you to promise that when it is in your ability, please show up for us...for this...this family thing we have here. I know I'm new to this sort of, but I know it's important, because it has to be. Does that sound fair...or even possible with your life?" Oliver dropped his head. "Oliver, I'm not trying to make feel guilty about this. It was just a parent meeting, and you have a job to do, but it did kind of make me think about how this all works." he looked back up to her. "With all the balls you're trying to balance, where exactly do we fit?"
Oliver let out sigh. "You shouldn't have to ask that question...ever. This family will always be my main priority, and I'm sorry if my actions haven't shown that. I will do everything in my power to make sure I show up for our family." she placed a hand on his cheek and smiled before he once again leaned into kiss her. He frowned when she once again turned away. "I honestly don't know what else I have to do to show you how sorry I am."
"Oh, apology accepted, but I turned away, because I like when you kiss me right here-" she pointed to her neck and Oliver laughed before bringing his lips to the nape of her neck. Katie hummed at the feel of of his lips on her collar, but they soon ventured lower. Oliver's fingers reached for the buttons of her shirt, and in a move she partially objected, she reached up to stop him. Oliver pulled back and looked up to once again meet her eyes.
Unlike their last first kiss that happened years ago, their emotion and passion didn't lead to anything beyond kissing. But they ended up in moments like this quite often. Where a kiss, opens up other emotions and needs and it's usually Oliver who seems to forget the slow pace she seems to want to move.
"I'm sorry," she says and Oliver shakes his head.
"No, I'm sorry, We can take this as slow as you want." he smiled even though he's sure his body would disagree with him. Kissing her only made him want more which is why he always found himself getting carried away. They heard the sound of the front door opening.
"That's probably Ari." Katie whispers. "I should see if she wants any dinner." Oliver nodded before stepping back to allow her to step down from the counter.
When Felicity walked into her house tonight, it was quiet. She smiled at the prospect that maybe their extended house guests had finally gone home. Felicity walked further inside in search of Bruce. She'd texted him before arriving and he said he was here. When she walked into the living room, her eyes glanced over to the glass doors that lead to the backyard and she saw lights. Felicity walked over, and stepped outside. She continued along the stone path, stopping when she saw the beautifully decorated candlelight table, Bruce standing in front of it.
"What's all this?" Felicity asked walking over to Bruce whose arms slid around her when she was close enough.
"This is an apology dinner." Bruce said and Felicity looked confused. "For taking in a bunch of annoying super powered mystical freaks and letting them run loose in our house."
"Really? I hadn't noticed them." Felicity smiled and Bruce leaned in and pressed a kiss to her lips. "Where are our house guests from hell?"
"No idea, I sent them all away so we could have some time alone." Bruce said.
"So we're here alone?" she asked and Bruce nodded. "No super-hearing or x-ray seeing friends at all in the house?" Bruce quirked a brow as the woman began backing away from him. "I mean I'm hungry, but food could wait." Bruce smiled before hurrying forward and grabbing the woman and tossing her over his shoulder. Felicity let out a laugh as he took her back in the house. "Bruce!"
Water struck her face as Katie's eyes looked up to the sky. There was a smile etched into her face as a crack of light seemed to begin expand. She couldn't help the satisfaction she felt, the pride that coursed through her veins. A smiled curled up to her lips when she suddenly heard footsteps. Her eyes lowered, her smile widening as Oliver stepped in front of her.
"Look up Liver, it's happening." the look on his face was hard, very clear that he was upset. The smile dropped from Katie's face, because something wasn't right.
"What did you do?" Oliver asked taking a step toward her, but she stepped back to keep the distance between them. "What did you do?"
"I don't—I don't know." he took another step and this time when Katie stepped back, her foot slid to the edge of the roof. She glanced over her shoulder, gasping when she realized just how high they were. She turned back to Oliver who still looked at her with what she thinks might be hatred.
"I will never forgive you." and without another word he shoved her from the roof sending her falling to her death.
Katie's eyes snapped open with a gasp as she sat up from the bed. She felt her heart racing in her chest as remnants of the dream still played on the edge of her mind. She looked over to the side of her bed that was empty and she sighed. She looked over to the clock on the table beside her and rolled her eyes. It was barely six AM. She dropped back against her pillow. There was no way she was getting back to sleep.
She needed to clear her head and right now she only had one idea. And so Katie got up and dressed into a pair running shorts to go for a run. Katie quietly crept through the hall so she didn't wake anyone up.
When she stepped outside she began stretching as she walked down the porch steps.
"Good morning, Mrs. Queen," a voice spoke and Katie turned to see Steve. "Going for a run?"
"I was." she said as she continued stretching. "Any objections to going for a run?"
"Only if you don't object to an escort." he replied and Katie looked at him for a moment.
"Fine." she sighed.
A few moments later, Steve was changed, and the pair went running down the dim-lit street. Katie was hoping for a silent run, but it would seem that Steve was a talker.
"You know I had a friend who had trouble sleeping. He went to the doctor and I guess they prescribed him some kind of pill that solved the problem completely." he glanced over to Katie who simply continued to run in silence. "But you being a doctor probably know how to solve such a problem, I would guess." more silence and the man let out a sigh as he turned to run trying to keep in pace with the woman. "You know I had another buddy who-"
"Steve!" Katie snapped. She stopped running and turned to the man. "Would you-" she lifted her eyes for a second and paused.
"Mrs. Queen, is everything-" he turned following her eyes to a large house enclosed behind a fence. Without saying a word, Katie crossed the street and walked over to the fence, leaning in to get a better look at the house. It was the Queen mansion. It looked exactly the same, but different at the same time. The mansion clearly looked like it aged, but the flowers and manicured bushes still looked immaculate as always.
"I wonder who lives here now." she muttered looking around to see if there were any cars in the driveway.
"No one." Steve replied and Katie turned to him in confusion.
"And how do you know that?"
"Because you own that house, Mrs. Queen." Katie looked at the man with wide eyes before turning back to the mansion.
When Katie came back from her run, she started to head upstairs but stopped when she heard Robyn's voice coming from the kitchen. She smiled as she headed over.
"Can you say apple?" Katie gently pushed open the kitchen door to see Oliver sitting in front of Robyn as the girl ate her cereal. He was holding an apple in his hand out in front of her. "Ap-pohl," the baby just grinned and Oliver just shook his head.
"She'll get there." Katie says stepping through the door. Oliver looked over to her, taking in her clothes.
"Went for a run?"
"Yeah, couldn't sleep and thought a run would help clear my head." Katie headed for the refrigerator, grabbing a bottle of water before turning back to him.
"Bad dream?"
"Weird dream?" she replied leaning over the counter. "But there's something I want ask you." Oliver stood up and walked around to stand beside her. "Is it true that we own your old house?" he didn't say anything right away, but that look passes over his face that she now recognizes as a sign that they've strayed to a topic he doesn't want to talk about.
"Uh, yeah, we do." he says before turning and heading back over to sit in front of Robyn. Katie thinks she's supposed to take that as a sign that he wants to end the conversation, but as always, she's just too curious.
"Was that something you were going to tell me?"
"Uh, sure at some point I guess. I didn't think it was a big deal." Katie walked over and grabbed a chair from the table and placed it beside him, her eyes locked on him. "Twinkie, seriously, it's just a house."
"It's your house. The house you grew up in. The infamous Queen Mansion." he turned to her. "Why do we live here and not there?" Oliver sighed before turning back to his daughter who happily ate her cereal.
"We live here because it's home." Oliver says turning back to Katie. "The mansion was...big and quiet and it never felt like-" he shook his head as he glanced around the kitchen. "This." he turned back to Katie and shrugged. "This is our home." Katie looked at him for a moment before leaning forward and pressing her lips to his. It would seem that crossing that line meant that whenever she had the urge to kiss him, she would. Oliver's arm slipped around her, pulling her closer.
"Oh, ew—we eat in here." Katie pulled away with a sigh before turning to Ari who was already dressed for school.
"Good morning, Ari." Katie stood from her chair. "I have good news." Ari turned to Katie with a quirked brow. "I found a place for your party."
"Really? Where?"
Katie glanced over to Oliver who sighed and her brow furrowed in confusion. She turned back to Ari with a smile. "Uh, Oliver's old house. The Queen Mansion. It's not too far from here actually." Katie noticed the frown on Ari's face that the girl turned to Oliver. "What's wrong?" Ari turned back to Katie, but didn't say anything. She wasn't sure if she should tell her cousin that she doesn't have fond memories of the mansion because of a certain evil entity that took over her body.
"Maybe we should have the party somewhere else." Oliver suddenly said standing to his feet and walking over to stand beside Ari. "I could have Maddie check out some places." he turned back to Katie. "I'm sure she could find something by the end of the day." Katie looked over to the man a bit speechless. Here she was having spent the last week pulling her hair out trying to find a place for this party and now when she actually has a place, everyone's acting weird about it.
"Ok, what's going on? That house is perfectly fine, and it's free." Katie looked between Ari and Oliver. There was something there. Something about the mansion that they weren't telling her. Katie shook her head. "Fine, what's one more secret for everyone to know, but me." she shook her head before leaving the kitchen up the stairs.
Oliver let out a sigh before going to follow after her.
"I don't want my party there." Ari said and Oliver stopped and turned to her. "I just—" she shook her head. "I don't."
"Then it won't." Oliver walked over to stand across from her. "But if the reason you don't want to go there is because of fear-"
"It's not." she said quickly with a shake of her head. "Just that place doesn't hold the best memories for me." she looked over to the clock that hung on the wall. "I should go. I'll see you later." Oliver gave her a nod. watching her walked over to place a kiss to Robyn's head before heading out the kitchen.
"up-pool!" Oliver's eyes widened as he turned to his daughter.
"Did you just say apple?" Oliver went over to her, picking her up from her chair. "Can you say it again?" he placed a kiss to her cheek. "Say Ahh-poohl," the girl just smiled and he let out a chuckle. "So I'm guessing you're going to be stubborn like your mother."
Katie sat on the bed of her room, eyes closed. She hated this feeling. Hated that she couldn't remember. She hated that she felt like she'd done something wrong by suggesting the Queen Mansion for Ari's party. She let out a groan before opening her eyes and standing to her feet and walked in to the bathroom and turned to her reflection of the mirror.
"You have to come back," she pleaded. "Please just-" there was a knock at the door and dropped her head and let out a deep breath.
"Twinkie?" she walked back into the bedroom without a word, her eyes on the door as she dropped down to sit on the edge of the bed. "Can I come in?" she wanted him to come in and yet she would never say the words. "I'm sorry, I know you're probably confused." he let out a sigh. "I would really like to see your face right now...I'm coming in." Oliver opened the door, stopping at the sight of Katie sitting there on the bed looking back over to him. "Twinkie-"
"Are you going to tell me what the deal is with the Queen Mansion?" she asked and Oliver looked at her for a moment. She could see the deliberation happening inside of his head and she so wanted to know what it was about, but she had the sinking feeling he wasn't going to tell her. "You're not." she stood to her feet and walked over to stand near the window.
"I want to , I just-"
"You can't." she said turning to face him. "The Queen Mansion is on the list of things you won't tell me about because you're afraid that it will upset me." she shook her head. "You know you do that a lot." she turned away from him to look out the window. "Try to shield me from the pain."
"I love you and I just-" Oliver cleared the emotion from his throat this moment seemed to cause. He thought avoiding the problems could make them go away, and now he's realizing he hasn't been doing a good job of hiding them. Which shouldn't surprise him. His wife had an eye for the details. She had a way of reading him like no one else could.
"You're afraid." Katie says, her eyes looking back to Oliver who didn't object. "The things I can't remember, they're bad, right?" he didn't say anything and she really didn't expect him to. "And you want to protect me from it."
"I love you." he said again and he wonders if she understands just what the words mean for him. Because they mean that he'd do whatever it takes to make sure absolutely nothing hurts her. It's impossible. He's aware, but it would never stop him from trying.
Katie stood there for a moment before letting her eyes turn back to look out the window. He wasn't going to tell her and that makes her so much more afraid of what exactly she can't remember. At this point she's not even sure she wants to remember. Her eyes catch her reflection in the glass and she lets out a sigh.
"Uh, I got a call from the Ritz," she turned back to the man. "I guess one of their parties canceled, so we have a ballroom, and everything has gotten back on schedule for the party."
"Twinkie-"
"It's her birthday. If she doesn't want the party at the mansion, then fine." she looked down to the time on her phone. "You should be getting ready for work." she looked back up to Oliver who looked as if he wanted to say more, but she knew he wouldn't. And so she moved to walk past him, but he took a step to the side to stop her.
"Everything is fine now. Just the way it is. I don't want to mess that up." he said and Katie lifted her eyes to him for a moment before turning away.
"Uh, I totally forgot-" he looked back to him. "I have an appointment with Nick today and he wanted me to invite you to the session. I guess to see how you think everything is going here with us. It's later this afternoon-" she shook her head. "If you're busy-"
"I'll be there." Oliver said placing a hand on her waist. "I will be there." Katie gave a slight smile before turning and leaving the room.
Ari found it hard to focus today. If she had to guess why she would contribute it to a couple of things. Her birthday was just days away, and it would be the first birthday she would spend without her parents. Then there was the whole vigilante in training and how much darker she realized it all was than what she thought. And on top of all of that, there was the big stupid "C" at the top of her history paper that had been mocking her all day.
Sweat was beading off of the teen as she punched the dummy in front of her. She'd gotten out of school early and thought she'd come to the hide out to blow off some steam.
Felicity walked into the hideout, coming to a stop the moment she saw Ari in the distance punching the dummy. Ari didn't stop or even acknowledge that anyone else was in the room. Felicity took a couple of steps closer still watching the girl and even she was a bit amazed by how badass the teen looked.
"Remind me to never challenge you to a fist fight." Felicity said and Ari suddenly stopped and looked over to her.
"When did you get here?"
"Just now." Ari let out a sigh as she pulled off her gloves. "You alright?"
"Yeah, I'm cool." Ari walked over to the small refrigerator in the corner and grabbed a bottle of water. "Where is everyone?"
"I think Curtis and Rory are on their way, and I have no idea where Rene and Evelyn are." Felicity replied watching Ari closely. The girl looked over to her with a quirked brow.
"Why are you staring?"
Felicity walked over to her. "You know if all of this is too much and you want to step back-"
"Why would I want to do that?" Ari asked and Felicity shook her head. "If this is about yesterday, I told you I was fine."
"You did, but it doesn't mean I believe you. Look I get that seeing Oliver as someone other than just your Guardian-"
"I know he's more than that." Ari dropped her eyes. "I guess I just didn't know what that really meant." Ari shook her head as she looked back over to Felicity. "He threatened to kill that man and it looked like he might." Ari frowned slightly turning away from the woman. "I just thought-"
"What?"
"This-" Ari looked around the room. "All of this. What we're doing, what we're trying to do-" she turned back to Felicity. "It has to be the opposite of them. If we do what they do, then what makes us any different than them." they turned at the sound of voices to see Curtis and Rory. "I should get changed." Ari turned to hurry off and Felicity followed her with her eyes with one thought very clear. Arianna Locke was going to make one fine hero one day.
Oliver dropped his head as he listened to the weeping of the woman from his phone. It was the wife of Sam Conahan, an officer of Oliver's task force, brutally murdered in an alley.
"We're going to get justice for your husband. Trust me."
"I thought that was my job." Oliver turned at the voice of the man who'd walked into his office without an invite.
"Goodbye." Oliver said ending the call before looking up to the man. "I'm sorry, you are?"
"Pissed off. Royally!" the man snapped and Oliver took a deep breath.
"I'm getting that. What I don't understand is who you are and what you're doing in my office."
"Adrian Chase." the man said. "Your new-"
Oliver held out his hand realizing who the man was. "District Attorney. I'm sorry that we haven't met."
"I'm buried up to my eyeballs in motion practice and indictments with a staff who's barely made it past 3 rounds of budget cuts, so how about we save the pleasantries for the next fundraiser and get down to why I am so..."
"You're so pissed off." Oliver's phone vibrated and he looked down to see the reminder he'd set for himself. He needed to leave for the session with Katie and Nick. He looked back up to the man who he hoped would get to a point quick. Oliver wasn't expecting said point was that a drug dealer he was hoping to flip being murdered. Adrian put the blame on a vigilante.
"That doesn't sound like the Green Arrow." Oliver said.
"Not him. Some idiot in a hockey mask."
Oliver had to drop his eyes and had to stop his initial reaction. Maybe he heard him wrong.
"I'm sorry," Oliver looked back over to the man. "Did you say Hockey Mask?"
Author's note:
Soooo...what did you think?
Review Replies
Purplestan: Yes! I so wanted their kiss to mirror their kiss from the first story. Oh and rene's "crush" will be explained soon. What I will say is that the pair have met prior to the clinic opening.
BlueBloodsSVUOrder: You're close, it's Twiver! Actually yes we will see Katie assisting with some of the training. That is also when we will get to poke more fun at Rene and this "crush". We will learn the truth about his weird behavior with Katie.
Jason Hunter: Last chapter Episode was season 5 episode 2 - "The Recruits" And don't worry Katie will be getting her memories back soon. I think we kind of hinted at one of her problems in this chapter. "Maybe I'm trying to protect myself too." She's running away and doesn't realize it...but soon she won't have a choose but to face the truth.
Adela: Thank you! And I thin Oliver and Katie would agree with you. Don't worry they will figure it out.
Well as always I would be remiss not to say that you all are just awesome. Thanks to everyone who has added this story to your alerts and a virtual high five to those who left reviews. I appreciate all your support!
Sneak Peek
"Hey Oliver-" Nick stood to his feet and walked around his desk. "Katie wasn't here." Oliver looked over to the man confused and the look on his face let Nick know what was happening. "She didn't tell you about this, did she?"
"About what? She said you wanted me to join her for one of her sessions to see how I felt everything was going. I assumed she would be here."
"Oliver, Katie scheduled this session for just you." Nick replied and Oliver looked over to the man with more confusion.